Hugh Jackman is no stranger to the gym, but he’s also no spring chicken – not that he’d care to admit it.
This year, the actor will turn 55. He’s also reprising his role as Wolverine for the 10th time, but at what cost?
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To gain back his iconic character’s muscles for Deadpool 3, Hugh will undergo six months of gruelling training. He’s even reportedly installed a gym in his home to keep him on target.
However, sources say the game plan has Hugh’s wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, on tenterhooks, worried that he could be putting his health, and body, on the line.
“Hugh’s set to be put through the wringer, that’s for sure,” tells a source. “He was still in his forties the last time he played Wolverine, but now he’s creeping closer to 60. It’s easy to understand why Deb might be concerned this time around.
“She has no problem playing a ‘gym widow’ to Hugh’s intense workout routine for the next six months, but she does think about the toll it’s going to take on him.”
Unlike the previous times he bulked up to play the X-Men superhero, Hugh is starting out on the back foot. For the past 12 months he’s been singing and dancing eight times a week on Broadway in The Music Man. As a result, he’s currently quite lean.
Then there’s the fact that, much like the rest of the world, Hugh has battled COVID, twice, and Deb is a little unsure about the lingering effects it could have on Hugh’s body as he transforms it.
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Still, Hugh is assuring Deborra-Lee, 67, that he’s good to go, and that his time on Broadway has put him in good stead.
“I’m fit. I’m healthy. I have a good place to start,” he insists, adding that he’s cleared his schedule, so it’s game on!
“I’m going to be with my family and train. That’s my job for six months.”
As for food, Hugh’s going with the trusted high-protein diet he used ahead of Logan in 2017, joking: “Apologies, chickens. Start running now because I’m coming for you.”
He’s also insisting on gaining muscle the natural way, vetoing any steroid use.
“I had been told anecdotally what the side effects are of that. And
I was like, ‘I don’t love [my job] that much,’”
Hugh admitted last week. Though the father of two is optimistic about the torturous times ahead, Deb views it as a tough situation to be in. She’s very proud of the incredible career her husband has built, but can’t shake the feeling that he may “cause himself some harm”.
“She’s seen how stoic he is,” adds the insider. “Hugh’s not one to complain or make a fuss, so in some ways it’s her job to advocate.
“There’s no way he would have signed on to do this to himself if he didn’t have Deb watching his back – he’s a very lucky man.”
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